‘Failure at the border’: Sheriffs blame Biden-Harris administration for rise in crimes linked to Tren de Aragua

The American Sheriff Alliance issued a press release Tuesday accusing the Biden-Harris administration of allowing Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan gang, into the United States.

The sheriffs set fire to the board, saying TDA’s presence in the country is yet another example of how the country’s open borders policy is failing.

“With the increase in human smuggling, illegal drug trafficking, and violent criminals crossing all borders, every county in the United States is now a border county.”

The group pointed to a recently leaked memo from the Homeland Security Investigations office in Chicago, which warned police officers that TDA members in the US had been given a “green light” by the gang to “shoot at or attack police”.

The American Sheriff Alliance also noted that TDA “has been linked to violent crimes across the country,” including an armed robbery of a jewelry store in Denver, Colorado, that occurred on June 24.

According to an NBC News report released in June, the gang has been linked to more than 100 criminal investigations. In July, the Department of the Treasury sanctioned TDA as a transnational criminal organization.

“TDA engages in human smuggling and trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, and the movement of illegal narcotics within their areas of operation,” the American Sheriff Alliance press release said. “The total number of TDA members operating in the United States is unknown due to the number of ‘got-a-ways’ entering the country, as well as those who may have been recruited domestically since TDA established a presence in the country.”

Kieran Donahue, president of the National Sheriffs’ Association and sheriff of Canyon County, Idaho, said, “If we allow a brutal and violent gang like TDA to operate in the United States, we have failed in border security.”

“TDA is the latest example of where failed policies have allowed violent gangs and criminal cartels into our country, who then commit horrific acts of violence and spread fear in our communities,” Donahue added.

Former Sheriff Clint McDonald, who now serves as executive director of the Southwestern Border Sheriff’s Coalition and the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition, also blamed the current administration for the rise in gang-related crime.

McDonald stated, “The American Sheriff Alliance issued a call to action in February regarding the fear of violent criminals, cartel members, and people on the Terrorist Screening Database.”

“It is clear that the number of TDA members in our country is rapidly increasing, and that we are failing at the border to ensure that bad actors do not enter our country for nefarious reasons,” McDonald continued. “Coming to the United States and threatening to kill American law enforcement is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.”

The American Sheriff Alliance has stated that it is committed to finding a solution to the border crisis.

“With the proliferation of human trafficking, illegal drugs, and violent criminals crossing every border, every country in the United States is now a border country. This country is feeling the consequences of foreign policies that have failed to adequately address the problems of violent gangs and the production and trafficking of fentanyl and other drugs by organized criminal cartels,” the group concluded.

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